Trough The Years
by tengokunotobira
Summary: Lost in time, from time taken.


Lost in time, from time taken.

 _OUT OF ORDER_

"Don't close your eyes." The commanding voice stabbed his ears. His lids stayed shut.

"Ren, don't close them." More serious this time. He fulfilled the command.

"Good. Stay conscious." Hux's hands were red from blood as they fished for metal fragments. Ruby liquid was still overflowing from Knight of Ren's guts. The pain was overwhelming.

"I'm almost there." General reassured him. Finally he got the last piece. "Hold it like that." He pressed a bundle of cloth to the wound by force user's shaky hand. "I have to put stitches on." Hux rose up from knees and washed hands under broken water pipe. A puddle below turned red. He quickly whisked off drops, then dug out a spool and long needle from the first aid kit. He pierced the ragged skin time after time. His fingers worked fast to minimize pain. Kylo tried to focus on the needle disappearing into his flesh and appearing again to avoid passing out.

"It's done." General proclaimed. He carefully wiped off rest of the blood and put bandages on. He also ripped away soiled sheet from under Ren (which wasn't easy) and pushed him onto the mattress (even bigger challenge). When the blanket covered tormented warrior, Hux let himself fall next to him. He was exhausted.

"…that wasn't necessary…" He heard faint words.

"Which part exactly?" Hux sounded uninterested.

"You rescuing me."

"Oh. That." Soldier snorted. "Yes. Probably I should just let you die. But shouldn't you be more grateful that I didn't?"

"You don't even _like_ me." Ren's face grimaced in pain.

"Why does that matter?" Hux started to feel irritation.

"Stop being so damn perfect in everything you do. Even if you hate me, you already saved me, that's humiliating, you know."

"Ren. Shut. Up. Or I'll sew up your big awful mouth too."

 _MIXED FEELINGS_

They walked through the passage back from Supremacy to Finalizer. First Order's General was scolded by Snoke for some alleged oversight. Ren found it incredibly funny because Hux couldn't talk back at Supreme Leader like he did to Knight of Ren. While their Master didn't pay attention what General thought at that moment, Ren heard all unspoken, washed-up retorts. He had hard time refraining from chuckling.

"You should see your face." Ren's voice changer didn't cover up his amusement.

"You are the one to talk, hiding behind a mask." A vein popped up on Hux's temple.

"What a shame you didn't present your defence line, I am sure Supreme Leader would be delighted with your sophisticated vocabulary."

"Mind your own business. If I understand it correctly, you have great amount of things to meditate on, including your reckless behavior last time. And previous time. And all times when you screwed up in general." Hux cooled down already and went back to his usual self.

"My, my, didn't you hear our Master is blaming you partly for what happened on Rylot? I must admit it is quite funny he expected from you to _tame_ me, while we both know you have no such abilities...?" Ren stopped suddenly with uneasy feeling. Hux didn't even bother to listen to him – he just turned into the right corridor while ago without saying a word. Ren was surprised by his own disappointment.

 _CRY FOR THE MOON_

Finalizer docked on small, forgotten planet located somewhere in Expansion Region. The area of landing was deserted and safe. Troopers get a furlough to the town on condition of using only informal clothes. First Order was here incognito, so no uniforms and flashing with guns were allowed. Crew split into three groups and one of them already hit the road. The rest had to wait until their return.

Naturally Lord of Ren didn't have to conform with this rule, so he walked to the town shortly after the first group of soldiers. He opted out of his regular robes and for once used his old jedi garment. He was sitting now in dark corner of local dusty tavern, his brown hood still on. A beverage in front of him had deep, hot taste. Ren enjoyed other guests' loud conversations and some odd music in the background. He didn't know he spent there almost four hours until groups of young men started to leave the inn. First shift of stormtroopers was going back to the ship. He didn't have to wait long for their replacement. Other soldiers walked in and took seats behind tables. Among them was hefty, short-haired woman with warm smile. Captain Phasma, Ren guessed, because he didn't see her without an armour before. And next to her…

Force user straightened up, eyes on boy in black leather jacket and worn trousers. He barely recognized First Order's general in this outfit, if not his florid hair. The image of Hux laughing made him slightly angry. He looked from his shadow at joyful company and felt kinda jealous. First time he regretted not being more social person. Sure thing, he heard General's laugh before, but that was cold and always _at_ him, not _with_ him. What silly thoughts, he shook his head.

Hux excused himself and went outside for a smoke. Ren felt like the spell was lifted so he could move again. He rose up and aimed his steps to the exit. He pushed the doors and went in direction of Finalizer.

"Leaving already?"

Ren froze, then slowly turned back. The ginger stood his back resting on the rough wall. Hux inhaled nonchalantly and let out the smoke. He watched Ren caught off guard, undecided what to do.

"I was actually hoping, you might join us." He studied force user's face.

Ren's full lips went apart.

"Maybe another time…" That was all he was able to say.

One of his thick locks slipped from under his hood. General felt absurd urge to shove it behind his big ear. Good thing Ren walked away because one more beer and Hux definitely would have done that. He cursed and went back to the inn.

Ren didn't sleep well that night.

 _PLAYING WITH FIRE_

A monthly briefing which Snoke participating ended with obligatory salutes. Soldiers disappeared as fast as possible, delicious sense of relief on their faces. Hux collected his papers and prepared to leave the conference room.

"You watched me." Lord of Ren stood next to him

Hux gave him searching look. "Ah, yes." He said warily. "I was watching you. You were watching me too. Well. We both keep an eye on each other, to make sure we're doing our job properly."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Wave of irritation passed through Ren's body.

"Listen, Knight of Ren, that was a long day, so if you don't mind, let's put this conversation for later." General really had dark circles under his eyes, force user noticed.

"You're tired? That's odd. Hard to believe, you are a human after all." He couldn't stop himself from sticking pins when he realized that Hux wanted to get rid of him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The redhead grimaced. "Or whatever. I don't want to know." He was heading to his private quarters, Ren following him.

"But I want to know to what do I owe this questionable pleasure of you staring at me so much?" Force user pushed him.

"Damn, Ren!" Hux abruptly spun himself to face this pain in the ass. "You're acting like I could read minds by looking on somebody! Don't worry, whatever secret you're hiding, it's safe in your head. I don't intend to rake up anything, even if I could."

"Why, afraid of what you might find out?" Ren stepped closer to him. He didn't really pay attention to his own words, he just wanted to keep Hux little longer.

"I'm not. I just don't care." General ironically half-smiled.

Force user removed his helmet. Raven hairs cascaded to his broad shoulders. He leaned toward the ginger. Hux's brow twitched.

"Liar." Ren's whisper was supposed to be intimidating but his own voice failed him totally. It dripped with lust.

Hux frowned. His blue eyes unwittingly settled on force user's red lips.

Ren left him in the middle of passage, before he could figure out what it was meaning.

 _ONCE IN A BLUE MOON_

Ren's meditation was interrupted. It felt like feathers landed on his naked arms. He surfaced from sea of multiple thoughts. Something smelled of coffee and warmth.

"Temperature here is dropping fast." General's shiny boots appeared in force user's visual field next to his tight. He stood faced the horizon in front of them. His famous coat hanging now on Ren's shoulders.

"Don't stay here much longer so I won't have to present to Supreme Leader your frozen body." Hux wanted to go back inside the ship, but warrior's hand went upward catching his wrist in light grip.

Hux hesitated. Ren's hand squeezed his own. He sat down close enough to brush force user's muscular leg. They stayed like this for a while in comfortable silence.

 _BETWEEN THE LINES_

"What happened?!" A growl came from under metal mask. An abrupt jolt of the ship shook him awake and he barely had time to dress himself up. Sound of Red Alert rang through the passages and all crew was mobilized.

"Finalizer disturbed some relic immune system." Hux was searching something feverishly on radars. "Rapid alert procedure didn't work." He looked around through the monitors. "We are trapped in an unidentified force field." His voice was tense.

The ship was crunching. Through the windows they saw part of external shields' panels curl and flake off. General turned pale. He dropped his head, then reached for intercom's button.

"This is General Hux, all personnel to the aerodrome for immediate evacuation."

"What?! Is it that bad?!" Ren didn't know the situation happened to be so serious.

"Lord Ren, you too. That was an order." He guided him quickly to the main corridor. "The smaller ship may bust out from range of field's generator."

"But…!" Force user protested.

"Just go!" Hux shouted at him pointing at the end of hallway.

"What about you?!" Ren caught his biceps sharply.

"I'll join in a minute. Captain Phasma!" He called the officer passing by. "Escort him to his shuttle. I'm flying with lieutenant Mitaka, we'll be the last ones leaving."

Knight of Ren gave up and followed the rest of soldiers running to aerodrome, sending hurt look to General.

Good thing, Hux knew how to block his mind from intruders, otherwise Ren would find out that he lied.

 _UNDER ILLUSION_

First Order's members observed their mothership from distance. Like General predicted, transporters and other smaller ships were able to escape to safe area.

Ren watched Finalizer too, shaking from anger.

"What the fuck is taking him so long?!"

Phasma looked at him oddly.

"Lord Ren, are you bargaining General Hux left the ship…?" She took a risk and asked directly.

"And you are not?" He barked.

"A commander never deserts his post, Lord Ren." Captain explained the obvious.

Force user felt like he was hit by the rock which later ensconced itself in his guts.

 _SEEING RED_

"Are you insane?!" Very furious warrior threw his helmet on the floor. At least not tossed it at Hux.

He arrived as fast as possible leaving the rest of crewmates far behind, once weakened Finalizer succeeded in breaking out from the force field. Ren stepped again on the deck with vision of murdering certain redhead.

"What did you expect?" Hux scratched his nape. "The loss of Finalizer would be critical hit for First Order. It's one of our best weapons."

"You are far more important than any ship! Losing you, that would be true disaster! So could you avoid putting yourself in danger like you just did?! You damn cheater! And you have the guts to smile at me now!" Ren went into furious mode.

"I appreciate your complements, they'll sweeten the rest of my life, before I'll report the disaster to Snoke..." General smiled sadly. "Damage is huge. Finalizer is a terrible mess… It's a miracle engines are still working. I think, it will be her last journey… I mean, to the closest base. She can't handle nothing more."

"What happens next?" The tension vibrated from force user.

"The ship will be probably taken apart." Hux shrugged.

"I didn't mean Finalizer."

Ren's orbs never before were such dark, like two black holes which attracted whole light in galaxy.

"We will see…" Hux sighed cheerlessly.

 _IN FORCE_

General marched into his office, finding Knight of Ren in his seat, elbows on his thighs and his head hidden in big palms.

"How was it?" Ren immediately rose.

Hux leaned on his desk. He just arrived from Supremacy, which guided broken Finalizer to First Order's base on Kuat. On the mother ship took place his private meeting with Snoke. Or rather private torture, like Hux is used to think about it.

"The good thing is, I won't be executed."

Knot on Ren's stomach loosened a bit.

"Supreme Leader wasn't even angry." Hux continued with poker face. "He said, First Order needs new generation of spaceships. I also got further instructions." He looked at force user's tensed face. "Due to damages to Finalizer I will be no longer her commander as we'll dock on Kuat. My new task is to create plans of modernization of the fleet. It means, I will be working with our best engineers to rebuild ships. I'll even keep my general's rank."

Ren was surprised. He never dreamed about such resolution. It sounded really good and suited Hux well, but…

"Did he mention me staying with you…?" He asked quietly.

Hux averted his eyes.

"He said, now you are beyond my concern… which, as we both know, isn't true."

"I don't want us to separate!" Ren said boldly. "I need your scolds to keep my balance!" He tried to cover his sudden outburst. "It's just a competition. I work better under yo… pressure." He almost slipped something else, which may sound improperly.

General only smirked.

"You can still write letters to me, if you ever feel lonely."

"You kidding?" Ren pouted his full lips. "I will be haunting your mind directly. Yours sincerely, Hux."

"That's… lovely." The first time for days the redhead laughed out loud. "No, actually it's terrifying, Ren, don't do that!"

 _GOLD RUSH_

Ren stomped through the station located in The Colonies. His current mission demanded valuable information from the planet in neighbourhood. Some undefined premonitions brought him to Halcyon. He was welcomed by feared soldiers and now walked freely wherever he wanted.

The narrow corridor he traversed turned abruptly and he bumped into someone near his height.

"Watch were you're going."

For second Ren was sure he was mistaken for one of the technicians – they wore black here, like him. But that voice. THAT VOICE.

"Hux?" Force user grabbed the redheads arms.

"Ren?!" Astonished general pulled off warrior's dark hood with his own hands. "You are on a secret mission or you just screwed up something and looking for a place to hide?" He mocked, but he looked very pleased. Hux was on Halcyon to take devices created for new ships.

"What the hell do you insinuate?!" Ren yelled. "If I knew, you were here, I'd come earlier!" He huffed his palms still on Hux's nice arms.

"Why?" The redhead sent him sly look.

Ren's mouth flied open. Not the first time he caught himself on contemplating Hux's features.

"You have no freckles." He slipped out of the blue.

"I have some..." Hux denied without second thought and frowned, because he didn't find any sense in their statements.

The one who blushed was none other than Knight of Ren. Hux's answer implied that he had them somewhere else excluding face, and Ren's imagination ran wild.

Neither of them knew what happened, but two hours later they were kissing hungrily in some other dark passage.

 _RED-LETTER DAY_

"…so let me present…The Conqueror." General announced with pride.

Metal gates behind him separated with hiss and foam. Ren rolled his eyes behind his mask at this obvious show off. His thought reading skills were always concentrated on Hux's mind, but he rarely got the full access form General. He was very happy to hear ginger's voice in his own head. _Just enjoy the show,_ Hux smiled at him and invited all officers near the new First Order's spaceship.

Conqueror was marvellous piece of work. She encompassed essence of Hux's genius. Black shiny metal covered all surface. Windows looked like shadows between panels. Whole ship appeared solid, huge and agile at the same time. Her frame stayed sharp like other First Order's and imperial ships.

Hux made a sign and the crew inside turned the engines on. They flared in red. Other officers walked on board. General came closer to Knight of Ren.

"What do you think?" He asked pretending to be still focused on Conqueror.

"I like the colour." Ren chuckled.

"Somehow I was thinking about certain dark force user while creating it's shape." The glint of lust appeared in Hux's eyes.

"I'm also sure, you were thinking about yourself in my bed while giving it the name." Ren walked toward entrance leaving Hux all red and hot not only from burning engines' light.

 _COMING TRUE_

General entered Ren's quarters concerned about his prolonged absence in public area. He only saw him for a moment couple of hours ago. He supposed the warrior needed time for himself after harsh month-long training with Snoke, however caution is always in order. Especially in First Order. That was how he poorly excused himself for the fact he invaded force user's privacy.

"Kylo?" Hux called when he couldn't find the man in main chamber.

"Bedroom." Tired voice answered him from the darkness.

"You're alright?" The redhead stood at the doors.

"Just sleepy. Wasn't that bad this time." Ren yawned and slipped out of sheets.

"Can I turn the light on?"

"But the dim one, please." He started to changed his robes.

Hux clicked on panel. Ren closed his eyes immediately and continued stripping.

The first time Hux saw him without clothes, yet they did it once in Halcyon. But it was quick, messy and ended too soon, both of them wanting more. That time it was all they could afford.

Ren had wonderful body, strong and well muscled. But there was one thing that worried Hux. Warrior's chest, stomach, back and legs were covered by multiple scars and bruises. At least, none of them was as big as his mark on face and neck.

"Where do you get them all?" Hux frowned, near to Ren's back.

"Well… most of them while training with Snoke. Older are from jedi's temple. And that one belongs to you." He turned to face the redhead and slid his finger along red line on his belly. "The only one I actually like…"

Hux had remembered how hard he prayed that time when Ren lied on the floor covered by blood. He touched the scare lightly. The raven haired man shivered and Hux darted his eyes to his.

"I want you to love me." The warrior whispered embarrassed by his own words.

"Done." Hux placed his lips on Ren's.

God, he is so cool…!

 _BLUE-EYED BOY_

The Conqueror was sent on a mission out of safe area of the Galaxy. The ship passed the Wild Space some time ago and was set up in direction of unknown region of the universe. The Supreme Leader's wish was to explore other Galaxies. Of course he sent on this mission his best inferiors. Knight of Ren and General Hux co-commanding First Order's spaceship again.

Which meant, they had a lot time for each other and grabbed every minute given to them. Ren's current second in line favourite activity was teasing his general and pushing his buttons.

"Armitage."

"Don't." Hux turned his back to him.

"Angry, aren't you?"

"I do not use my first name…" Hux started again.

"But I do." Ren licked his ear.

"Kylo…" Hux warned.

"You see, you use mine. I want to use yours too."

"Geez, you are pain in the neck."

"On Conqueror you can be a general, in your quarter just Hux, but in my own bed I'm going to call you like I want, Armitage." Ren pulled him closer with smug grin.


End file.
